Front Page
For the second day in a row, mainstream newspapers choose different issues for their leads.
Hindustan Times notes that “Lok Sabha airs pollution woes in first Parl debate”.
The Times of India focuses on the debate but states that “MPs take pro-farmer stand during pollution debate in LS”.
The Indian Express goes with the upcoming visit of the newly-elected Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 29 November with a fairly odd headline: “New Delhi to host new Colombo next week”.
And, The Hindu leads with a report about the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) — an ambitious network for intelligence agencies to share information. NATGRID will be operational by 31 December 2020, writes Hindu. The network will enable “multiple security and intelligence agencies to access a database related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details, among others, from a common platform”, it adds.
Pollution debate in Lok Sabha: HT writes that the parliamentarians “called for urgent new steps… to tackle air pollution”. It calls the discussion “unprecedented” and notes that it “also exposed political fault-lines at a time when concerted, interstate efforts seem to be the only way out of a crisis”. In an accompanying article, HT reports that “if stubble burning is removed as a factor, the air in Delhi still remains in ‘poor’, ‘very poor’ levels”.
As opposed to HT, TOI calls the pollution debate “much-anticipated” and notes that discussion took a “pro-farmer” turn with the MPs “arguing that the agriculturists should not be vilified for stubble burning”.
Pegasus snoopgate discussed in Parliament: Also, in Parliament, the home ministry “declined a direct reply” to a query about “whether the Centre had used Israeli spy software to tap WhatsApp calls and messages”, reports TOI. More importantly, it notes that the government “placed it on record” that the power “to intercept phones and computer resources” could only be done under the provisions of the law.
Express reports that a group of 17 activists, whose mobile phones were spied upon, want the Parliamentary standing committee “to summon government departments to answer questions related to unauthorised and illegal surveillance”.
Females in labour force: In an exclusive, Express reports that “just one out of five persons — in the 15-30 years age bracket — entering the workforce is expected to be a female in the five years ending 2023, when India’s labour market demography is projected to peak”. In the ‘Explained’ box, it adds, “Compared with other Asian peers, India is far behind in the participation of women, an essential component for boosting the country’s growth”.
Kashmir: Express reports that the Minister of Home Affairs said that there was a decrease in stone-pelting incidents and law and order issues in Jammu and Kashmir after the revocation of Article 370. However, it notes, that the government data actually “shows a marginal increase in such incidents”.
Others: After being the lead story for the last few days, JNU practically disappears from page 1 today. Express and HT carry small reports saying that JNU students accused the Delhi Police of brutality during the protests Monday.
The bizarre news of the day — In a scene right out of the 2002 Steven Spielberg classic Catch Me If You Can, TOI reports that a man was caught pretending to be a Lufthansa pilot at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi.
Opinion
Hindustan Times: Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidential win in Sri Lanka marks the arrival of a new Rajapaksa regime, but also a “shrinking of space for an inclusive Sri Lanka”. India is now in a “difficult spot”, warns HT. New Delhi had supported Sri Lanka’s opposition alliance five years ago due to concerns over Rajapaksa engineering a “geopolitical tilt” towards China and their “staunchly anti-Tamil outlook”. Now, India will have to engage with the Rajapaksas. HT asserts that India must be “firm” on two issues. First, if Sri Lanka’s engagement with Beijing affects Indian security interests, India will “exercise its leverage”. Second, if Sri Lanka returns to an “exclusivist ethnic State”, there could be a revival of Tamil insurgency that is harmful to both countries.
The Indian Express: The government’s rejection of the latest consumer expenditure survey is another “blow” to the “independence of the Indian statistical system’, writes Express. Earlier it had “suppressed” data on the period labour force, proving that it is “uncomfortable with data that is not in sync with its projected narrative”, remarks Express. The government’s rationale for withdrawing the report is “perplexing”, and the data is probably “unpalatable” as it was recorded when the economy was “reeling” from demonetisation and the imposition of GST. A “sober” response from the government could have been to release the data while acknowledging its shortcomings. Reliable data is the “bedrock of sound policy-making”, and suppressing it will only “further erode” credibility of the statistical system, warns Express.
Prime Time
Prime time news Tuesday was split across various topics: On Times Now, Padmaja Joshi debated #PollutionPeDhoka after many MPs were absent during the Lok Sabha debate on pollution. On NDTV 24X7, Vishnu Som discussed the political war on water quality in Delhi. Republic TV used Pakistan MQM party boss Altaf Hussain’s plea for asylum as an opportunity to ‘debate’ its merits.
In other Parliament related debates, Aaj Tak’s Rohit Sardana asked if “all is well” in Kashmir after Home Ministry presented data on Kashmir’s situation which included numbers of incidents of ceasefire violation, stone-pelting and attendance in schools post the scrapping of Article 370. Meanwhile, Zee News took up the issue of the sudden retraction of SPG security to Congress, asking, “Is SPG more important for Congress than farmers’ issues?”
News18: On “#NewsEpicentre”, anchor Marya Shakil debated the Owaisi vs Mamata row after the West Bengal chief minister called the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) head a “BJP funded Muslim extremist”.
AIMIM had said it will contest all the seats in the next West Bengal assembly elections.
AIMIM spokesperson Waris Pathan said, “It is good that we’re contesting elections, we want the Muslims to be empowered politically and we must also get education, why must the community lag behind?”
“Owaisi is a dangerous person as far as minorities are concerned. He is just shedding crocodile tears, he does nothing on the ground,” said political analyst Manojit Mandal, a TMC sympathiser.
India Today: Anchor Gaurav Sawant debated the removal of the SPG cover for the Gandhi family and the message it sends out. He asked, “Where is the problem? Is the SPG a status symbol that elevated the Gandhis to the same security level as the prime minister’s?”
BJP spokesperson and national IT head Amit Malviya said, “SPG is not a political entitlement as the Congress party seems to think.”
P.K. Mishra, former additional director general of the Border Security Force, suggested there was no cause for alarm as the “same type of training (like that of SPG) is being imparted to CRPF”.
ABP News: Anchor Rubika Liyaquat asked if Congress would suffer if they don’t decide over Maharashtra government formation. “Congress is between the devil and the deep blue sea,” she commented.
But the discussion — departing from the usual rabid debating style — turned into something of a poetry war.
Congress’s Rajeev Tyagi expressed his party’s opinion through thus, “To NCP, I would say — jeet hi lenge baazi hum-tum, pyaar ka bandhan toote na (we shall win, but this bond of love should not be broken).”
On the possible coalition, Shiv Sena’s Mahesh Tiwari replied with another famous couplet, “Hungama kyun hai barpa… chori to nahin ki hai (why is there such a hue and cry. We haven’t committed any theft).”
TV9 Bharatvarsh: Anchor Sumaira Khan also discussed the political spat between West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain hit out at Banerjee for calling his party and AIMIM “two sides of the same coin”.
“Mamata was a minister in the BJP’s government, she was also a part of Narasimha Rao’s government which was known for its anti-Muslim sentiments… Where was her secularism then?” Hussain said.
Political analyst Tauseef Khan differed, “If we look at the history of Bengal, people haven’t voted on religious grounds. Parties should focus on issue based politics.”
AIMIM leader Waris Pathan, accused Banerjee of appeasement politics. “When she was railways minister with the BJP, why didn’t she observe extremism? In her Bengal, BJP won 18 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.”